26.5m Nigerians to face food crisis in 2024. See reasons

According to a report released recently by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), at least 26.5 million Nigerians may experience a food crisis by 2024.

Dominique Kouacou, the FAO’s national representative in Nigeria, said this during the announcement of the results of this month’s Cadre Harmonize food security and early warning study in Abuja.

The purpose of the Cadre Harmonize study was to determine the current condition of food security and generate future forecasts for 26 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

The food chief, who was represented by Assistant Representative, Programme, Dr. Abubakar Suleiman, explained that the current cycle was occurring following an atypically lean season that saw multiple shocks, including ongoing insecurity conditions like banditry and insurgency.

The other difficulties listed include; conflicts centered around natural resources, the high cost of food and agricultural inputs as a result of rising inflation, and extreme dry periods in some areas right after the start of the rainy season.

The FAO official warned that residents of Borno, Sokoto, Zamfara, and FCT would face a food crisis between June and August next year.

According to Dr. Ernest Umakhihe, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, the study was carried out and verified by highly qualified experts from the Cadre Harmonize analytical task group in two weeks.